Toggle Background Color
Two - A little too dead.
Well, no enemies, so this should be easy, right? Not so fast! As one might discover if one tries to move immediately, this area is laden with traps. Luckily we have just the skill for that!
The traps this early are very low level, and only do about 9 damage to us anyway, but still, walking into a trap wastes valuable seconds with the headache animation!
And of course, the traps all have evocative names too.
Once we get to the tile behind dear old dad, he talks again. Not sure I mentioned this in the old LP, but the narrator who does the intro and inter-chapter videos also voices the Father's lines. He's pretty good. I'll post the aforementioned videos in the reserved post soon.
Does it matter? There isn't anyone waiting for me here.
And yet, someone waited for you here, for a long time. You should leave. I am... too old to leave. Only one destination remains open to me. One possible journey. I have wasted too much time.
(Sad smile) Too old? You're more like a little too *dead* right now.
It's true. I am an appearance, a memory, a fragment you own. I am what is left of him. He is laying down on his bed, in the room that you fled. He has never talked to you as long as I talk to you now. I am only... an image. I am only a regret.
You wanted... to leave? Why?
(Your father watched you but does not respond.)
Why would I leave?
Isn't that what you should do? Don't you want it, anyway? It is in your nature. It was in your mother's nature. It is in mine.
Selecting the only option left, to ask who he is, makes him repeat the "I am only a regret" line. This time we have a different response possible though.
I don't understand. What should I do? I am exhausted... Can you not leave peacefully? Does it have to be so hard?
(Your father turns his eyes away from you, and stares at the horizon. It appears all of a sudden that he is no longer interested in you. He stays like this for a moment, then gently fades away and disappears.)
Music - Village Combat
Now we have to contend with both traps AND enemies.
It's not strictly necessary with a high Humor build like ours, but the Anticipation skill would start becoming very useful here with all the Harassment these guys can dish out.
The only downside to it is the bizarre 4-8 range. Kind of makes sense though, since preparing for something that's already in your grill isn't really anticipating it. There are some skills that modify the range though, which I might look into.
This encounter also has the first Summer Scent, which is part of the Secret of the Norns free dlc, and an achievement. More on that later.
It is also possible to completely dodge attacks, but that's really only reliable with high Intuition, and ours is crap. These guys are just also crap.
When dealing with squares at the extreme top or bottom of the map, it's often necessary to make the UI go away with the arrows in the bottom right.
Getting the Scent gives 1000 Energy and 5 Movement, which is useful if getting to it has caused a lot of damage.
It would suck to get away from the Memories only to succumb to a Buried Sadness. Not that this has ever happened to me...
A lot of damage is inversely proportional to range in this game. That, plus high Humor, plus Anticipation, can lead to completely absorbing all damage for an attack. Being a psychic tank is fun.
Memories like this ain't gonna make Haþuwīgą shook.
Oh great, another hallucination.
Er, I guess this is a real person.
Oh. Hello, Inkeri.
What's happening, my love?
I was... out, getting some air.
The bonfire is ready. The cremation will take place in less than an hour. Kaleki and Veikko will come and get your father. Are you ready?
I don't really have a choice, do I?
Follow me.
We don't have control for this part. The game does that occasionally, and thankfully it has been years since it doing so has completely locked or frozen things!
Narration: (You feel your legs collapsing under you. As you fall on your knees, the voice of the Old Inkeri rises in the cold atmosphere. The Volva begins the first strophe of the Voluspa, as an ancient and a prophetess, she will guide the defuncts into the Kingdom of the Dead.)
His Spirit was dead; His body fell to earth.
The murder was consummated, the childhood came undone.
They sat down, dreadful, atop the walls of dust.
What will the worms do with this intangible flesh?
The worms do their work: Weariness, Sleep.
They stretch, they crease, they weave the years together miraculously.
They mold the human shape, they shape the differences,
They are close to the roots, where the tree begins.
They make the moonless night, and the new moon as well.
They make the North and East. They make the South and West.
They harvest in the Dead, all that is left to take.
They make the Ancestor and the Wolf, which we call hydromel.
And they make the Horse; and they make the Tempest,
They make the hollow magic and the burning desire,
They are workers defined by their patient outlook,
and all things they have made are flawless creations.
All that can be found, all that can be grasped,
All the songs of sorrow, all the crumbled towers,
The cold and salty wind, the pale and chapped hands,
All that rapes and murders, all that gives and cures.
Every thing was calm; Every thing is battle,
Thus goes the power of these man-eaters.
From the house that burns for being made of straw,
To the rose that is picked during a massacre.
Narration: The Volva becomes silent. One can only hear the sound of the wind in the pine trees, and your heavy, numbed, breathing. As a man approaches the bonfire with a torch, you do not move a muscle.
-is fascinating how much I have hoped for your death as fiercely as I hoped for mine, and how naked and useless I feel in this moment. It is fascinating how, even arrogant and lonesome, I can still long for your gaze, your black, busted, cracked eyes, that turn toward the sky, and that don't look at me, and don't look at me any longer.”
People pass by, but you don't hear them. Progressively, your father's silhouette crumbles, the flames abate. You remain standing, immobile, eyes lost in thoughts, watching the wind as it caresses the red ashes, waiting.
Until the morning comes.
Y-yeah, I guess all that is worth a level up.
Pumping Memory one last time before that sweet conversation xp.
For Skills, I go with Good Intentions, part of the Support branch of the snowflake. (The general idea being dealing with trauma through supporting others.) It isn't that great on its own, but it is a prerequisite for a lot of good and fun skills.
Most importantly, this one.
Now to move to the edge of the screen and get this adventure started.
Yeah, we do have the goal to go talk to the Volva, but what self-respecting RPG protagonist does the main quest right away? Plus, Haþuwīgą is a friendly girl, she has people to talk to!
The combat diary sometimes has some interesting stuff, including experience point gains and achievement progress.
334 xp for listening to a guy pressing F to pay respects? Hell yeah. Of course, it's like 20,000 to the next level because this game likes big numbers, but longer, more important conversations give more. As we will see in the next couple updates, we can gain whole levels just from talking to our fellow villagers.